Marie Walker: The Open Futurist on a Mission to Transform Finance

Marie Walker is the type of person who sips her coffee while strolling through a 3-acre wood she planted herself. As someone whose career is based on the data economy, her serenity might seem at odds with her role in the fast-paced, ever-changing fintech world. But for Marie, it's the natural habitat for an Open Futurist at Raidiam, a company she describes as a band of "technical wizards" pioneering data sharing and security standards globally.

"It's a dream job really – I'm just doing what I enjoy doing and getting paid for it," Marie says with a laugh.

Marie has been a quiet yet potent force in fintech, her influence belying the fact that even within the open finance community, "a lot of people haven’t heard of us [Raidiam]." But her mission is clear-cut: "Working with regulators and the consented open data sharing community, keeping track of what’s going on, sharing information, and connecting people." In doing so, she's setting the stage for Raidiam and open finance at large to thrive, making each new initiative "an opportunity for us."

If you're looking to understand the future of open finance, Marie is the person you need to talk to. As an "Open Futurist," she has a vision of what the world could look like if we leverage technology to make data sharing more ethical, secure, and beneficial for all. She currently serves as a resident Open Futurist at Raidiam, a trust framework and data sharing ecosystem provider. Concurrently, she is the curator of open-conversations.org, a non-profit platform that aims to bring people and ideas together in this rapidly evolving field.

Before joining Raidiam, Marie co-founded Open Future World, a freemium platform that provided insights and analysis in open banking, serving a global community in 110 countries for over a decade. She's not just an observer but a "Top fintech influencer to follow" from 2021 to 2023 according to Belvo. What makes her even more fascinating is her previous career journey: she was a Managing Director at Hanson Wade focusing on Energy & Finance and has also held significant roles at Euromoney Institutional Investor and IIR Telecoms, demonstrating her broad understanding of the intersections between technology, finance, and telecommunication.

The mix of the strategic and the personal in Marie’s approach is what makes her tick. "Sharing ideas and bringing people together has been critical to bridging the gap between what’s interesting and what’s possible," she reflects.

Marie's influence extends beyond her 9-to-5. With a home in rural Norfolk, UK, where she resides with her husband and two teenage sons, Marie is not just a financial influencer but a "tree fanatic" with a personal arboretum. While most of us could barely handle the demands of a houseplant, Marie is shepherding entire ecosystems, both digital and natural.

"Thinking about where we are going, how best to get there - and what ‘there’ could (and should) look like," she says, describing her broader perspective on the field. Through her work, Marie has been "bringing together the best people and ideas. Helping them to have the necessary conversations." It's a facilitator role she seems to have been born for, as evidenced by her former positions in sectors ranging from energy to telecoms.

So how did Marie Walker, a tree-planting enthusiast who enjoys nothing more than a meditative stroll through her 3-acre woodland, become a central figure in open finance? "I’d like to say it was part of a great plan, but really it just evolved," she laughs.

Here's the full interview.

Since 2016, you've been closely involved in monitoring the progress of open consented data sharing. Can you share some key insights you've gained from this experience about the direction the field is heading?

First off, open banking and open finance is inevitable. There are different approaches, particularly the contrast between the sort of regulated markets we have in the UK and Europe, and the market-led approach taken by countries like the US. But there’s now something of a convergence – for example, the move towards regulation in the US while the UK and Europe are recognising the need for commercial incentives to be aligned. And globally, more and more countries are joining the movement.

But secondly, we’ve learned that getting there isn’t easy. In pretty much every market, open banking takes longer to get going than people like me would hope, particularly when financial incumbents resist. That has obvious implications for fintechs – you need to be able to cope with those delays – and for regulators, who need to be on top of implementation and ready to take action if necessary.

But incumbents also need to be aware that delay isn’t a winning strategy. In Europe and the UK, we’re beginning to see how banks that focused on opportunities rather than just minimal compliance have put themselves in the strongest position for the future.

Finally, regardless of the journey to open banking and open finance, that’s just a first step. That same idea of open, consented data sharing can apply to other sectors, and is already part of the thinking in markets like Australia with the Consumer Data Right and the UK with Smart Data. So we’re heading towards open ecosystems in – and across – multiple sectors.

Raidiam is known for its expertise in data sharing ecosystems and digital identity management. Can you provide an example of a particularly complex data sharing challenge you've tackled and how your team approached solving it?

When the UK started to think about implementing open banking, the Raidiam co-founders, Ralph Bragg and Barry O’Donohoe, realised that the fundamental problem was one of trust.  How could banks and third parties share financial data with certainty that consent had been given, parties were approved to access the data, and that the data would be properly used and looked after? In response, they invented the world’s first trust framework for data sharing, which was then deployed for the UK.

Using this experience, they developed and refined Raidiam’s Ecosystem-in-a-Box SaaS offering, since adopted by regulators, consortium, and enterprises around the world.

There is rarely one-size fits all, and we’ve learnt a huge number of lessons along the way.  UK open banking took 6 years to get up to speed.  By perfecting our approach, we were able to deploy open banking in Brazil – which became open finance – in 6 months.  And when the insurance regulator, Susep, asked for their own ecosystem that took just 6 weeks.

What motivated you to become an advocate for open consented data sharing? Could you share a specific experience or realization that led you down this path?

I’d like to say it was part of a great plan, but really it just evolved!

I started out working in conferences and market intelligence, and when I started my own business – Open Future World, with the wonderful Nick Cabrera - we quickly moved towards focusing on finance. One of the events we did, back in 2016, was an early – I think perhaps the first – conference on open finance.

In business terms we were too early, so we didn’t really make any money out of that event. But we just thought “this is the future, and it’s something we want to be part of”. So we carried on and gradually completely focused on open banking, open finance and then the wider idea of open data ecosystems.

I love the breadth of what can be enabled.  Secure consented data sharing enables everyone to be connected to the products and services that they need and are most suited to them. As we start to give even more control to the individual (or company) of their whole data-self we really will transform pretty much every aspect of life.

Could you discuss the significance of the trust framework in data sharing ecosystems? How does Raidiam contribute to establishing secure and reliable connections in these contexts?

The trust framework establishes the rules, permissions, and standards for sharing data between parties while ensuring data protection, consent, and compliance with regulations.  Within the trust framework sits a central participant directory – much like a private app store.  This provides everyone in the shared ecosystem with visibility of, and access to, each other’s APIs (according to the permissions set).  

There are so many benefits to a trust framework.

At a national level we’re enabling open finance and open insurance (including the world’s largest ecosystem in Brazil).  But that’s not all – a trust framework provides certainty of identity which can be used to reduce payments fraud, or – as in Australia – create a national age verification scheme. No longer do Aussie’s have to show sensitive personal details in order to access age restricted services – the ConnectID app provides them with a simple ‘door opening’ yes they are old enough, or no they are not.

Some of our most exciting work has recently been with groups who have come together around specific causes – usually involving cross sector data.  We’re proud to be helping Icebreaker One and Bankers for Net Zero with an ecosystem designed to help small businesses understand and reduce their carbon impact – and gain access to Net Zero grant funding in return.  

We’re also supporting one of the most relatable examples of the need for data sharing ecosystems there is; improving home buying by digitising the process to speed it up and reduce risk and costs.  I think everyone can understand the clear need there! In the UK the Open Property Data Association is pioneering the way.

A trust framework is an enabler of innovation and collaboration – the watch words of the data economy – operational efficiencies is an additional happy bonus.

When I started working for Raidiam what really blew my mind is that their SaaS trust framework is both sector agnostic and infinitely scalable.  

Put simply, if a country decided to pursue open everything (or smart data) tomorrow, we could have the central infrastructure ready for participant testing in a matter of weeks.

Collaboration seems to be a significant aspect of your work, bringing together diverse ideas and people. How do you facilitate conversations and collaborations among stakeholders who might have differing interests or objectives?

If you think about networking, there are really two approaches. The first is to see it as a sales opportunity – go to any networking event (or look online at LinkedIn, for example) and you’ll see lots of people “working the room”, looking for people who fit the target profile and approaching them with whatever sales message it is.

The alternative is to be much more in listening mode, asking people you meet about themselves, what they are up to and what their key challenges are. And when it happens that you can think of a way to help them – perhaps not directly, but by putting them in touch with someone else – you do. That’s what I’ve been doing for a long time, and it’s something of a virtuous circle. The more people you talk to, the more your network grows and the more likely it is that you know someone who can help.

It’s a sort of good karma, pay it forward approach. And it’s a lot more enjoyable than being on the sales treadmill.

As an expert in the data sharing ecosystem, how do you envision the future of open consented data sharing? Are there any emerging trends or technologies that you believe will shape the landscape?

The big picture trend is a growing movement towards open data ecosystems.

Within that, I’d highlight a couple of technology trends that are important. One is the whole idea of digital identity. That isn’t just technically important as a way of accessing digital services, but raises a whole set of issues around who controls our digital identities and how we prove who we are or share personal identity data. I think there’s a natural opportunity for banks to evolve from being trusted custodians of money to being custodians of identity and other forms of data. But there’s also this idea of self-sovereign identity (and decentralised finance).

The other big issue is how we’re going to deal with this data. It’s all very well to put the consumer in charge, but most of us haven’t got the time or expertise to make the best use of our data. So AI and the movement towards self-driving finance is exciting.

The concept of "open consented data sharing" implies a delicate balance between openness and privacy. How do you navigate this balance and ensure that data sharing remains ethical and respectful of individual privacy rights?

That’s a really difficult one. We’ve got privacy regulations like GDPR and an internet full of consent forms, but it’s obvious that consumers aren’t really giving “informed” consent when they tick all those boxes.

It’s easy to say that businesses should be ethical, and that the good will ultimately triumph, but I’m not sure that’s entirely true. There are plenty of businesses that have been happy to see it that way so they can hoover up and exploit personal data – and it has been incredibly lucrative for some of them.

There is an increasing focus on this area – particularly now that we’re worrying a bit more about giving too much information to our robot overlords. There are also some start-ups working on how individuals can monetise their personal data. Perhaps that’s the solution: if individuals start to see the value in their data, they’ll take it a bit more seriously and force change.

There are some business models where consent management is baked in. In a trust framework the customer is asked in their banking app (for example) if they want to share data with a third party.  Before giving consent it is made clear what they are sharing and why.  Consent is then transferred, as a secure token, between data requester and data provider. Consent is limited to specific attributes and for rigidly defined purposes.

What advice would you give to individuals or organizations looking to embark on data sharing initiatives while maintaining high levels of trust and security?

Get the framework right. An organisational data sharing initiative is a big undertaking, so there is a risk of getting caught up trying to predict what’s going to happen without ever reaching a definitive answer. If you can put a trust framework in place – particularly one based on the highest grade security there is - that gives you the opportunity to explore what data you have, what other data is out there, and what you can do with it.  

With your experience in fostering conversations and collaborations, how do you see academia, industry, and policy-making bodies working together to shape the future of data sharing?

This has been a key part of the development of open finance – both in terms of bringing together key stakeholders in individual markets, and with regulators and the financial services industry in different countries learning from experiences elsewhere. We are, after all, talking about ecosystems – collaboration is at the heart of it.

On the regulatory side, I’m deeply honoured – and slightly daunted! - to be working with Bryan Zhang’s Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, part of the University’s Judge Business School.  They run the Regulator Knowledge Portal for global regulators, a private space to share learnings and undertake training courses.  I’m contributing a course module on global progress; Raidiam co-founder Ralph is providing a technical one.  Other industry experts are similarly taking part. We’re all freely sharing our combined knowledge and experiences to help others leapfrog forwards.

There are also really interesting initiatives from companies, such as Ozone API and the Smart Data Foundry who recently launched a global tracker.

In every region there are consultations and collaborations – too many to mention but all with a common goal. Putting aside competition and commercial interests to help data ecosystems advance.

What is your one guiding principle in both life and work Marie?

Be generous - it is good for all of us in so many ways.  It’s a nice way to live your life and every now and then it comes around and pays you back.

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Images courtesy of: Marie Walker, Raidiam, up9

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